| Guitarist Zach Ernst and saxophonist Eduardo Ramirez, trumpeter Darren Sluyter and saxophonist David McKnight during a performance by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears at the Black Swamp Arts Festival. (Photo: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune) |
The lineup for the Black Swamp Arts Festival was so deep, it didn’t matter that a Saturday night
headliner canceled.
"What cancellation?" said Kelly Wicks, the chair of the festival’s performance committee.
With Eli "Paperboy" Reed ill, the Saturday lineup had to be shuffled.
That put crowd favorite Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers at 8 p.m. and they didn’t disappoint.
Dopsie has drawn raves with his other shows in town,
"That was the best I ever saw him," he said, and that was seconded by the many who were still
raving about his show on Sunday.
Dopsie on accordion and scratchboard player Alex McDonald generate energy that had people on their feet
and crowding the stage.
And that was after a steaming set from The Lee Boys. They represented a new generation of sacred steel
players, adding a strong undercurrent of funk to the style born in a holiness church.
Batting cleanup Saturday was Black Joe Lewis and Honeybears. They didn’t give the crowd’s feet any rest
with a set of raw, horn-fueled funk.
Music at the festival though extends far beyond the Main Stage.
The acoustic stage is set in the former Huntington Bank atrium in the middle of the art show.
Artists enjoy playing in its more intimate setting. Blues rocker Jim Suhler played a quiet, but no less
intense set on the acoustic stage including a version of Jimi Hendrix’ "Are You Experienced?"
played in jugband style with an accordion thrown into the mix. Suhler closed out the festival on the
Main Stage with a fully amplified set.
| Sidi Toure and his band performing on Main St. during the Black Swamp Arts Festival. (Photo: David Dupont/Sentinel-Tribune) |
While he was on the Main Stage, Malian guitarist Sidi Toure with two of his countrymen was entertaining
on the Acoustic Stage.
He was having such a good time he wanted to play another two hours, said Cole Christensen.
The stage features a mix of local performers, including a student jazz combo from Bowling Green State
University, and Main Stage acts. Artists in the area said they appreciated the music.
The Family Stage in the Youth Arts Area had a similar mix of entertainers.
Having performers from the Main Stage, including headliners Dwayne Dopsie and The Fleshtones as well as
groups such as the university faculty jazz ensemble perform gives the area an added appeal to parents,
said Matt Reger, chair of the youth arts.
Some parents said they came specifically to hear the music, which included high powered sets from
Dopsie’s band, the Lee Boys and Friday night headliners The Fleshtones.
Members of The Fleshtones, cavorted with the audience, charging into the audience and jumping on chairs,
drawing both adults and kids into the show.
Wicks said that many of the performers hang around the festival after their performances.
The Stone Foxes from San Francisco, who played Friday night, waited until the last minute to leave for
the band’s Saturday night gig in Detroit.
Often performers play in concerts with others of a similar style. They enjoy hearing the diversity of
bands that Black Swamp offers, and the chance to schmooze with other performers.
Wicks and his committee have already started to listen to submissions for acts for next year’s 20th
anniversary festival.
